SAVE
The SAVE is the ability to save the game. Overview The protagonist has one slot for a SAVE FILE, and saves the game at save points. Meta knowledge plays a heavy part of SAVE, where the protagonist remembers events that occurred in the past after having already seen them via loading a SAVE, and to some extent NPCs do as well; for instance, Toriel remarks that speaking with the protagonist is like speaking with an old friend, while Papyrus feels that the protagonist looks familiar. Once the protagonist has saved their game, they can load it from the game's menu, accessing it by opening the game. The game will load if the protagonist dies by reaching 0 HP. Also related is the ability to reset or restart the game. Use of this ability has the same effect on people's memories as loading the save file. What is SAVE SAVEs and LOADs appear to manipulate timelines. When a load or reset is performed, everybody is moved from the current timeline into a new one at an earlier point in time. Most people remember very little of what occurs in the time between a SAVE and a LOAD. If someone dies after the game is saved, then loading will bring them back to life. Story Flowey possesses the ability to SAVE through his injection with determination by Dr. Alphys. He mentions that he used his SAVE ability to experiment as the world's God, from befriending everyone to making different choices and then killing everyone. Upon seeing every outcome of his choices, he eventually grew bored of the world as a whole. However, Flowey's ability is superseded by the protagonist's own determination, stripping him of this power upon their entrance to the Underground. He does, however, retain his memories in full despite the protagonist's SAVEs and LOADs, unlike other NPCs; for instance, his dialogue changes if the protagonist killed Toriel at the end of the Ruins, then "revive" her by reloading the game, spare her, and go to meet him, and vice-versa. Much later, after absorbing six human souls in a neutral ending, Flowey's determination now supersedes the protagonist's, overwriting their SAVE and using the ability in a manner analogous to save-states throughout the battle to disorient the protagonist. He uses 3 save slots: slot 3 is saved at the beginning of the battle, when he is at full health; slot 2 is to disorient the protagonist; and slot 6 is used after he repeatedly kills the protagonist with slot 3 loads, to taunt them. After Flowey loses his powers, the protagonist regains their ability to SAVE. Sans appears to possess the ability to SAVE and LOAD at first glance, but in actuality does not. His ability to manipulate space and time is limited only to his current timeline; he cannot freely manipulate timelines to prevent his own death while remaining the same individual as the protagonist and Flowey do. Like other NPCs, Sans does not retain his memories but he is aware of time-manipulation being possible. He closely watches the protagonist and notices when they react to events as if they have experienced them before, deducing that they have some sort of ability to manipulate time, and during his judgement in New Home he may tell them about this depending on the protagonist's actions up to that point. After completing the final battle of the True Pacifist Route, the game automatically saves. If the protagonist reopens the game after the route's end the option to Reset the game is replaced with the option to do a True Reset. This completely erases everybody (except the protagonist's) memories of the game's events, doing so more completely than a normal reset or a load of the save file. If the protagonist completes the game on the Genocide Route then Chara destroys the world and its timelines. However, the world can be recreated; if this is done then the protagonist's save file is erased, but their ability to save and load remains unaffected. However, a permanent global flag is set that enables the game to know they have previously done this route; using the True Reset from the Pacifist Route does not remove this and any future SAVE files will be affected. No SAVEs It is optional to save, and it is possible to reach all endings of the game without saving. Towards the end of the Neutral or Pacifist Routes, the game will acknowledge that the protagonist has not saved at all. Neutral Route Flowey will mock the protagonist for having made no SAVE FILEs. He makes use of his ability to save and load as usual. In the post-ending phone call, Sans may make a joke, suggesting that the protagonist should save. Flowey's monologue to the protagonist is unaffected. After completing the game in the Neutral Route, the game will restart, and without any save file the player will be prompted to begin a game in the menu. Pacifist Route If the game has been completed at least once in the Neutral Route, then Alphys' sidequests are made available, making it possible to play through the game on the Pacifist Route. All of this can be done without saving the game. During the final battle, the protagonist considers saving over Asriel's file to defeat him, but it is stated that since they never saved before, they lack the power to do that. The story continues as usual, but the game silently saves itself, preventing the timeline from being lost after the game is closed. See Also * List of Save Points Category:Gameplay Mechanics